On Labor Day I ran the Malden Irish American Road Race 10K.

This was my second year running the race. Last year it was in the 90’s and it was just brutal. This year we had a tropical storm bearing down on us and it was cooler.

In the morning it was around 65°, but by the time the race started at 11AM, it must have been close to 80° with 100% humidity. We ran the same course as last year, so again, no shade.

Local Racing

This race is about a mile from my house, so I walked to the race. It’s a great way to warm up the legs before a race and it was a nice day. I’m sure I looked a little odd walking through the neighborhood in a purple singlet. That’s my club’s colors and it’s been that way since 1986!

It took me about 20 minutes to get there as I had to wait for traffic at several corners and crossing The Fellsway.

I got to the I-Am club a little early as usual, and there weren’t many people there. I quickly picked up my number and t-shirt. I didn’t really know anyone there, but I recognized a few faces from my old parish and the club’s walk to run program.

One guy who did the walk to run program a few years ago recognized me and got my name when I picked up my number. He immediately started calling me by my name. It was a little embarrassing as I could not remember his.

But, he treated me like an old friend and held on to my t-shirt during the race. While running the race I saw him again holding a sign at one of the turns.

As I sat in the I-Am hall I did what everyone does when there’s nothing else to do, I played with my phone. In the old days I probably would have smoked!

While sending a Facebook update it occurred to me that everyone calls Italian-American Clubs “The ITAM” so I decided that Irish American Clubs should be called “The I-AM.” Not only is it a catchy abbreviation, but I –Am 34% Irish. There has to be a t-shirt design in there!

I walked around and spoke with lots of people. One guy was a long time member of the club. He was there with his son and his grand-daughter who was running the race.

He told me that when the club began in 1965 they bought the lot for $1.00. Each member bought a share for $1,000 and that’s how they built the building. What a story! He also said they used to have around 1,500 members at their peak but now only have about 800.

We had a great conversation about family and life.

Running the Irish American Road Race

As 11AM drew near the hall began to fill. There was a storm on the way, so everything was inside this year. I saw Liz Emerald and my running buddy Bill. I only see Liz and Bill at races and they were the only runners I knew. No one from my club showed up. In 2015 we had about a dozen runners.

Around 10 of they called us to head for the starting line. There was a good crowd, but it wasn’t as packed as last year. I talked with the runners around me and joked with a guy who was going to push a stroller with his triplets in it! A few people had strollers with one child. There may have been some announcements that we couldn’t hear, but no National Anthem.

We started on Malden Street and headed for The Fellsway. Once we got onto The Fellsway there was plenty of room to maneuver. I’m still nursing an injury so I didn’t plan on pushing very hard. But out on the nice wide Fellsway I started passing people. I wasn’t even running hard.

I kept telling myself that most of these people were running the 5K, so they could afford to run a little harder than the 10K gang.

As we crossed Salem Street we immediately hit the hill by Fellsway Pond. I wasn’t sure how my legs would react, but I recall thinking my gears must have added a sprocket.

I didn’t run particularly hard, but I kept passing people. There was another tiny hill after the pond and then a slow uphill to the hair-pin turn onto Highland Ave. My legs felt pretty good.

The run down Highland was very comfortable and I tried to stay in any shade I could find. We took a left onto Maple Street and hit the 2 Mile marker just before turning right onto Summer Street and headed into Malden Center. At the Center we took a right onto Pleasant Street, passed the fire station and took a left onto Pearl Street.

The 5K runners took a right onto Charles Street near Pisa Pizza. I thought it would get a little lonely once they split off, but it wasn’t that bad.

As we headed down Pearl to our turn onto Medford Street there were plenty of runners to chat with. The I-Am had a water stop on Pearl Street for us. We hit Mile 3 on our brief stint on Medford Street and then took a right onto Commercial Street.

Commercial Street is a business district in Malden. There are businesses that have been there for years and lots of new development. Being a business district undergoing re-development, there isn’t much shade.

I knew Commercial Street would be a long sun-drenched slog down to Wellington, and it was. I caught up to Bill and two of his buddies. We ran together for about a mile until just after the loop back at the end of Commercial Street. Bill stopped at the water stop and his buddy slowed down for him.

I grabbed a cup and kept on going. Just after the water stop we hit Mile 4. I felt pretty good and had stayed well hydrated. With only 2.2 miles to go, I went into marathon mode.

Up to this point my average pace was 8:52, much better than I had planned to do. For Mile 5 I managed an 8:43 and for Mile 6 I ran an 8:24! I was really surprised that I could pull that off.

As we got back into the neighborhood around the club I told myself there were several turns, so don’t get to excited about getting near the finish line. It turned out that there were fewer turns than I remembered. In no time we passed Mile 6 on West Street and the last turn was in sight.

I felt good and the finish was close, so I kicked it in. For the last 0.15 mile I managed a 7:46 pace! I still can’t believe that.

When I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch it said 53:53:25. I knew I was far from the lead, but I had just run a 10K.

I felt good knowing that I was able to go out and run and push myself. I worked hard to do it, but my body responded well to the push.

Apre Race

My friend Liz Emerald won First Place in her age group! She is amazing. I didn’t know anyone else who won any other medals.

The I-Am had hot dogs and Bud Light for refreshments. Not my favorite after race meal, but for a $25 registration fee, I can’t complain!

This race gave me back some of my confidence. It was a bit of a trial run to see if I could do it. Now I’m planning races for the next few weekends.

Run well my Friends!

Andy